A randomized controlled trial examining an exam room poster to prompt communication about weight

BACKGROUND: Recognition of childhood weight status is important to the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviours. OBJECTIVES: We assessed whether an exam room educational poster addressing weight and healthy lifestyle behaviours was acceptable to parents, prompted parent-provider communication or improved parental weight perception accuracy. METHODS: In this multi-site randomized controlled trial, exam rooms were randomized to display the posters (English and Spanish) or not. Children ages 3 to 8 years (N = 965) attending well visits were weighed and roomed per usual clinic protocol. After the visit, parents completed a questionnaire assessing demographics, child weight status perceptions and whether they discussed weight status with provider or were shown growth charts. We used separate logistic regression analyses to examine associations between intervention status and: asking provider about child weight, being shown growth charts, and accuracy of weight perception, adjusting for covariates and clustering by exam room. RESULTS: Of the parents who saw the poster, 97% liked seeing it and reported greater understanding of weight status visualization (96%) and healthy lifestyle behaviours (94%). Parents who saw the poster were more likely to report being shown a growth chart (OR 1.87, 95% 1.06, 3.30) but were not more likely to ask about their child's weight status nor accurately report their child's weight status. CONCLUSIONS: An educational exam room poster about healthy weight was well-received by parents and prompted providers to show the child's growth chart but did not prompt parent-initiated conversations about weight status nor improve parental weight perception accuracy.